Last edited by a moderator:
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
1975 k5 expedition build
- Thread starter white90burb
- Start date
My initial plans for this was a rock crawler. I bought a set of 35x15.5x15 swampers. They were a little old but had great tread. Went out to a trail of north called payette draw with a bunch of jeeps and an old ram charger. About half way through the trail I get out for some reason. Look down and see fluid on the ground coming from my rear end. Found a hole in the cover from something shooting out. Found someone who had an extra 12 bolt cover, found some gear lube and silicon. Turns out my gov bomb spider gears decided they wanted some fresh air. Luckily was still able drive it home and around town for a while.
So the next wonderful thing to happen to my blazer happened after work one day. Was driving home and the U joint on the rear output of the tcase let loose. Somehow this caused the whole transmission to break. A break 360 degrees around the case. Got it towed home and then started a whole new transformation.
So the next wonderful thing to happen to my blazer happened after work one day. Was driving home and the U joint on the rear output of the tcase let loose. Somehow this caused the whole transmission to break. A break 360 degrees around the case. Got it towed home and then started a whole new transformation.
Jester1
1/2 ton status
Sub'd to watch
Sub'd
Watching also
Sorry for the break there got too tired to type any more. So anyways after the trans went south I had to really think where I wanted to go with this thing. I was having electrical issues constantly. It died randomly on me a couple times from a bad connection on the junction block on the fire wall. Gauges didn't work, neutral safety switch was rigged, ect. The other thing was what to do for a transmission. Another t350, t400, 700r4, stick shift. I really wanted over drive since I didn't have a tow rig. Then I remembered the van I pulled the engine from had a 4l80e in so I figured I would go that route.
I bought an ez wire 21 circuit wire harness kit, a slew of autometer gauges, a boneyard 4l80e, and went to town. The wiring for the most part was pretty straight forward although the instructions really sucked. Again don't have many picture of all this. For the gauges I wanted to have it look kinda factory. I took the metal housing behind the gauges and cut the holes bigger to fit the auto meter gauges. It turned out pretty good but I need to figure out how to angle the gauges up more, its kinda hard to see the very top of the gauges when seated.
I haven't finshed all the wiring behind the dash yet from changing my mind so many times, but it's getting there.
I bought an ez wire 21 circuit wire harness kit, a slew of autometer gauges, a boneyard 4l80e, and went to town. The wiring for the most part was pretty straight forward although the instructions really sucked. Again don't have many picture of all this. For the gauges I wanted to have it look kinda factory. I took the metal housing behind the gauges and cut the holes bigger to fit the auto meter gauges. It turned out pretty good but I need to figure out how to angle the gauges up more, its kinda hard to see the very top of the gauges when seated.
I haven't finshed all the wiring behind the dash yet from changing my mind so many times, but it's getting there.
Yup subscribed too! I like it!
Now for the seemingly never ending transmission fiasco I had to deal with. I found a "deal" on a 4l80e from craigslist for $400 bucks. I installed that, got it all wired how it came from the factory. Then I found a 32 spline np241 and an adapter and bolt that all up. Well went to test drive it and it just didn't shift right at all. It also defaulted to second gear after a few minutes of faulty shifting. I did everything I could to get it to shift right, recalibrated the speed box...cant remember what its called right now, watched it with a scanner hooked up, changed sensors, and nothing. So I went ahead and bought a stand alone controller for it hoping it would fix my issues, but still didn't work. So I faced the decision of rebuilding the trans and hoping that was my issue or going another route.
Well I decided to go the t400 route since I had the adapter and tcase allready. Found a good deal on a rebuilt 400 and snagged it up. Bolted the trans up and went to bolt the tcase up and found I had the wrong output shaft, was too long and the tcase was bottoming out before mating up to the adapter. Needless to say I was frustrated and let it sit for a while.
Started researching options thinking about what I really wanted to do with the blazer I knew I couldn't afford to really have a rock crawler. Couldn't afford 1 tons or 44's or a tow rig. It wasn't really what I wanted to do anyways. I'm more about just getting out and seeing remote places. After reading Larry's K10 build up and seeing how easy it was to swap to manual trans I started hunting for an nv4500. Found one with a warranty for 850 and for an extra 40 bucks they threw in a shifter. Decided to go with the early model with the 6.34:1 low range to help out when I decide to crawl with my friends.
Next was what to do for the clutch. It was a simple decision for me to go hydraulic. Found a set of pedals and master and slave on the for sale section here with the bellhousing for a sm465. Sold off the bell housing since they don't bolt up to nv4500s. Went and bought the AA bell housing to keep driver side slave cylinder and a new clutch from summit racing. Got everything installed and bled the clutch by my self...that was fun. Bloted up the tcase and was surprised that the rear driveshaft I got for the 4l80e deal fit but the front was too long. Either way was super excited to finally drive it around. After being down for almost 3 years I was relieved it ran and shifted great.
Well I decided to go the t400 route since I had the adapter and tcase allready. Found a good deal on a rebuilt 400 and snagged it up. Bolted the trans up and went to bolt the tcase up and found I had the wrong output shaft, was too long and the tcase was bottoming out before mating up to the adapter. Needless to say I was frustrated and let it sit for a while.
Started researching options thinking about what I really wanted to do with the blazer I knew I couldn't afford to really have a rock crawler. Couldn't afford 1 tons or 44's or a tow rig. It wasn't really what I wanted to do anyways. I'm more about just getting out and seeing remote places. After reading Larry's K10 build up and seeing how easy it was to swap to manual trans I started hunting for an nv4500. Found one with a warranty for 850 and for an extra 40 bucks they threw in a shifter. Decided to go with the early model with the 6.34:1 low range to help out when I decide to crawl with my friends.
Next was what to do for the clutch. It was a simple decision for me to go hydraulic. Found a set of pedals and master and slave on the for sale section here with the bellhousing for a sm465. Sold off the bell housing since they don't bolt up to nv4500s. Went and bought the AA bell housing to keep driver side slave cylinder and a new clutch from summit racing. Got everything installed and bled the clutch by my self...that was fun. Bloted up the tcase and was surprised that the rear driveshaft I got for the 4l80e deal fit but the front was too long. Either way was super excited to finally drive it around. After being down for almost 3 years I was relieved it ran and shifted great.
I like it so far.
Martin
Martin
Couple things I forgot in between stages. When I got the blazer originally I was living with my dad. We were in a some what strict HOA. Well my dad was paranoid about the HOA bitching about my mismatched paint job that combine with being bored, decided to throw a couple cans of paint to the sides. Funny thing, I came home from work in my truck and noticed something looked different but couldn't put my finger on it for a few minutes lol.
Then one day I was on my way to the river to meet up with some friends to go tubing. Was cruising down the freeway when the tread on my driver front tire decided to come off. When this happened it messed up the fender pretty bad and broke my wing window. So went on the hunt for some parts. Coulnd't find any decent used fenders so I went for some new ones. Ended up also getting some better doors. Pulled doors and fenders off the truck, painted up the new stuff, and got everything lined up.
Then one day I was on my way to the river to meet up with some friends to go tubing. Was cruising down the freeway when the tread on my driver front tire decided to come off. When this happened it messed up the fender pretty bad and broke my wing window. So went on the hunt for some parts. Coulnd't find any decent used fenders so I went for some new ones. Ended up also getting some better doors. Pulled doors and fenders off the truck, painted up the new stuff, and got everything lined up.
Also did find some pics of the engine swap. Pulled the harness apart and removed all the unnecessary wires out. That was a fun learning experience.
During all the driving around from my house to my boss's house trying to figure out the issue with the 4l80e I had forgot that my rear diff had a leak. Never checked or topped off the fuild. Well I was driving it back to my house and the rear end decided to let go. Blew a hole out the bottom of the housing and I'm assuming a piece of the pinion gear went out the hole. It had gotten so hot that where the piece landed off the side of the road it had caught a bush on fire. So I had to run over and stomp it out. Gotta love living in the dry desert.
Well one of my friends had a 10 bolt sitting around said it was the same 3.73 gears so I bought it for 50 bucks. Put new shoes on it while i was swapping. Well once I got the nv4500 in I tried to put it in 4x4 and it was binding up pretty bad. Pulled the cover found out it had 3.08s.
So I decided now would be a good time to start rebuilding that 14 bolts ive been holding onto. I bought 4.56s a yukon locker and disk brakes. Also every bearing and seal is being replaced. I also bought the barnes 4x4 13 bolt cover. I made the cut to the housing with a 4 1/2 angle grinder, wasn't bad but my ears were ringing for about half an hour lol. Still in the process of putting all this together and also buying all the parts to regear and 8 lug swap the front.
Well one of my friends had a 10 bolt sitting around said it was the same 3.73 gears so I bought it for 50 bucks. Put new shoes on it while i was swapping. Well once I got the nv4500 in I tried to put it in 4x4 and it was binding up pretty bad. Pulled the cover found out it had 3.08s.
So I decided now would be a good time to start rebuilding that 14 bolts ive been holding onto. I bought 4.56s a yukon locker and disk brakes. Also every bearing and seal is being replaced. I also bought the barnes 4x4 13 bolt cover. I made the cut to the housing with a 4 1/2 angle grinder, wasn't bad but my ears were ringing for about half an hour lol. Still in the process of putting all this together and also buying all the parts to regear and 8 lug swap the front.
This brings us to this past weekend. I've been needing front and rear bumpers and somewhere to mount a spare. I ordered a front winch cradle and wings from TNA but I'm having him make the wings a couple inches longer. I want to run a bar along the fenders to the rock slides I'm going to build later down the road. I also found a shop to build a rear bumper tire carrier. It's based off blazen off roads bumper. I also had the cut out holes for the rigid industries flush mount lights I bought. After the front bumper comes in I'm gonna drop the off at a powder coater. Then I'm gonna get a winch prolly a smitty built 10k. On the fence on winch cable or synthetic rope. Here are some pics from when I picked it up and from when I took my dirt bike out this weekend.
Mr_Sloppy_J
Registered Member
sick build! them bumpers are nice
Trail-Truck 75
Registered Member
Great looking build so far!
Been a while since I've updated this. Havent done much to the blazer been busy with work and no motivation. Somethings that have come up that are bothering me my 6 inch shocks that I had from the previous lift have blown out which I was worried would happen. Also my body mounts are so bad that my transmission is rubbing the body. Trying to decide what to do first new bilstien shocks or replace body mounts. What would you guys do?
Also got my led pod lights installed front and rear finally. Its nice to be able to see at night lol. Going to try to get my 14 bolt put together this weekend. I'm tired of driving around with 3.08 gears.
Also got my led pod lights installed front and rear finally. Its nice to be able to see at night lol. Going to try to get my 14 bolt put together this weekend. I'm tired of driving around with 3.08 gears.
Depending on how the body mounts are I might leave them and buy shocks.. Mounts can be rigged with steel pucks or whatever temporarily to get the body off the trans..
Body mounts.
Well motivation had been hard to come by for me. I went a head and purchased new poly body mounts rear bilstein shocks and the shock brace from offroad design. I noticed the driver side frame is cracked at the shock mount and want to prevent that from happening again once i weld it back up.
I was trying to figure out exactly where the noise that I thought was the bellhousing rubbing the underside of the body. Turns out it was the top of the shift tower hitting the trans tunnel. I just need to enlarge that hole a bit.
Bad news however while looking around underneath I found that 1 bolt that bolts trans to bellhousing is missing 1 almost completely backed out and 2 not even finger tight. Also my crossmember is loose as well. Got lots of work to do.
When I finally get the 14 bolt installed Im going to pull the tcase and replace the input seal. I have fluid leaking into the tcase from the transmission. Also bought a poly tcase mount.
Once all this is done I still need to install the front gears and replace ball joints and axle shaft U joints. Any recommendations on the best parts here?
Also on the rear axle I installed a yukon locker. What is the best fluid and do I need any additives like limited slip stuff on the gov bombs?
I was trying to figure out exactly where the noise that I thought was the bellhousing rubbing the underside of the body. Turns out it was the top of the shift tower hitting the trans tunnel. I just need to enlarge that hole a bit.
Bad news however while looking around underneath I found that 1 bolt that bolts trans to bellhousing is missing 1 almost completely backed out and 2 not even finger tight. Also my crossmember is loose as well. Got lots of work to do.
When I finally get the 14 bolt installed Im going to pull the tcase and replace the input seal. I have fluid leaking into the tcase from the transmission. Also bought a poly tcase mount.
Once all this is done I still need to install the front gears and replace ball joints and axle shaft U joints. Any recommendations on the best parts here?
Also on the rear axle I installed a yukon locker. What is the best fluid and do I need any additives like limited slip stuff on the gov bombs?
